Soooo... I haven't actually spoken with my doc yet, but I did get an email with the findings from my MRI. And I was kind of surprised by the results. The good news? I didn't tear my meniscus. The bad news is that instead, I have a torn ACL. I believe it's only a partial tear as he did not use the term ruptured. But from what I understand, even a partial tear won't heal itself because there is no blood supply to that ligament. Plus, it's likely been torn for over two years now, so clearly, not healed. Additionally, I also have bone swelling, which I didn't think was something that was even possible. So I had to google what that was and it's not actual bone swelling but edema in the bone marrow. This part is likely from a few weeks ago when I landed wrong getting off Eros. I think this is what's actually causing my current discomfort when I ride, as the ACL shouldn't hurt where I'm having discomfort.
The bone swelling should heal on its own from what I'm reading. Though probably would heal faster if I rested it I guess. I've been procrastinating reaching out to the doc because next steps is a consult with a surgeon, and I really don't particularly want to have surgery. Which, I'm not even totally sure that I need that, but it seems if I don't do it, it will always be mildly problematic and I'll likely end up with arthritis. I'd be out of the saddle for probably 3-4 months if I do need surgery though. And that seems like a really long time. So uh... I'm not scheduling that consult yet.
Have any of you torn an ACL? Did you have surgery or are you getting along okay without?
I had a friend with a torn ACL and he ignored it so when he did have surgery his recovery was almost a year. So go see the doc. Time surgery for the winter months if needed. (Sorry to use my mom voice😁)
ReplyDeleteThanks for this! I have a feeling since I didn't know for two years, I may already be in a similar boat. My PT said to have the consult, because it is possible to live without an ACL but it puts you at risk for a lot of arthritis. So I should see what the professionals think I guess.
DeleteWhat Teresa said. Go see the doctor now vs later and winter is the better time for surgery vs summer...
ReplyDeleteYep, I'm waiting for a call back for a consult. Turns out, it IS ruptured, not a partial tear. So I gotta see what the surgeon says.
DeleteBONE SWELLING???? good lord.... i'm so sorry, that really sucks. i've kinda been willfully ignoring issues with my ankle, and suspect it'll come back to bite me eventually... good luck and hopefully things prove to be relatively straight forward...
ReplyDeleteRight?! I had never heard of such a thing! It's not excruciatingly painful or anything, more just discomfort. But I'm going to have the consult and see what the surgeon thinks is best.
DeleteMy sister had surgery for a torn ACL over the summer. I know she was frustrated with the healing time and having more pain that she expected after surgery. She lives in Utah and does a lot of skiing. She tore hers skiing last season.
ReplyDeleteMy trainer had it done this past spring and she wasn't really back riding all summer. She tried, but had a lot of pain, oddly enough in her hip not from her knee. So that scares me! Seems like it's a pretty lengthy amount of time out of the saddle, not to mention it's my right knee, so it will be a bit of time that I can't drive too. But I found out it is actually ruptured, not a partial tear, so I'm going to go for the consult and see what the surgeon has to say.
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